Several of Canada’s close allies — including Britain and the United States — have established committees of lawmakers to keep tabs on the operations of their spy agencies.

When asked Friday whether he would consider creating a parliamentary intelligence committee, Harper noted that Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff and NDP leader Jack Layton have been sworn in as members of the Queen’s Privy Council, a process that allows them to receive sensitive national security intelligence under an oath of secrecy.

But the prime minister said the government is looking at ways to broaden Parliament’s involvement.

“I know that has been under consideration for some time. I don’t think we’ve yet landed on a particular model that we think would be ideal,” Harper told reporters at a news conference in Welland, Ont.

“But as you know, I have sworn the leaders of the opposition, other than Mr. Duceppe, to the Privy Council. So they are in a position to receive confidential security briefings. But we are looking at broader ways to involve Parliament.”

Liberal and New Democrat MPs cautiously welcomed the overture, saying such a committee would improve oversight of the country’s national-security agencies, in particular, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

“We’ve certainly been pushing for a security and intelligence oversight committee for some time. Most other democracies have such a committee to ensure that Parliament can look behind the curtain,” said Liberal public safety critic Mark Holland.

New Democrat MP Jack Harris said his party has also been calling for enhanced parliamentary oversight of CSIS, as well as the RCMP and the Canadian Forces.

In November 2005, then-Liberal public safety minister Anne McLellan introduced legislation that would have created a national security committee composed of three senators and six MPs, including representatives from the opposition.

But the bill died when the government fell later that month.

National security expert Wesley Wark said McLellan’s proposal was closely modelled on the British Intelligence and Security Committee, made up of nine members from both houses of Parliament. The panel’s responsibilities include oversight of both MI5 and MI6, Britain’s domestic and foreign intelligence services.

Among other things, the committee conducted a review of how intelligence was handled prior to the July 7, 2005 subway bombings in London.

In the United States, powerful intelligence committees in both houses of Congress oversee the Central Intelligence Agency.

The establishment of a parliamentary intelligence committee in Canada would be a “terrific thing,” said Wark, a professor at the University of Ottawa’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.

“It’s a missing piece in the accountability puzzle. It’s a missing piece in terms of how Canadians come to understand what is going on in this world,” he said. “In general, it would just give an indication that the Canadian government and Parliament are seized by the seriousness of security and intelligence matters.”

One thing the Conservatives likely will have to consider is the optics of offering a seat on the panel to the Bloc Quebecois. A spokesman for Duceppe didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

The Prime Minister’s Office didn’t immediately respond to a request for more information.